theReformed

As the 2008 Beijing Olympics loom closer, the perceived threat of open international journalism on the Internet in the eyes of China increases dramatically. Who would have thought that the Chinese government would have been so open to a free accessibility to a unfiltered, unfettered Internet? Apparently the International Olympic Committee (IOC), the governing/planning body of the Olympic games, foolish as that may have been to surmise from the vague conditions put forth by the Chinese government in it’s bid to claim these Olympic games. Perhaps the IOC never heard of the infamous ‘Great Firewall of China’?

We sit and ask ourselves, why?

While much of the world’s developed nations are democratic or inclusive of a moderately fair monarchy which empowers it’s citizens, China is still a Communist shelter. I don’t sit here and begin to preach to you that Communism is evil, that isn’t the intent of the article. What I do suggest though is that they have a completely different set of ideals, culture, action and reaction than your atypical Olympic host. In under a decade, the Chinese people have seen a dramatic series of developments and advancements in economy, society and technology. This has been a change allowed by reforms in internal policy and aggressive pressure from the external nations. The product of this is paranoia in the government of China over the privileges they’ve extended to partially their people and much of their guests, unheard of up until this point. It is a cultural defiance they face on a daily basis now leading up to and throughout the tenure of the Olympics in their country.

Censorship is metaphorically apart of their DNA, it is what makes China as capable of exacting control over it’s billion person population as it stands. Most ardent supporters of reform are a younger generation of citizens who have grown more liberal than their predecessors and threaten the fabric of a tuned system of controlling government, one of the most infamous being the Tiananmen Square protest incident so many years ago. In any case, to gleen the press’ rare positive outlook, reform was mildly embraced and the chief negotiators of the IOC review and those of China exacted an agreement which they couldn’t possibly have fulfilled of unfiltered, global access to external resources that may or may not criticize the Chinese.

From their perspective, whether we agree with their treatment of their nation’s citizens or not, they will accordingly have to draw a line at the extent which tools such as the Internet might be available to users throughout their nation to ensure they can reel those privileges back in once the people, the games and the money leaves. We’d be hard-pressed to actually believe the leeway being granted journalists at these games will continue long after they’ve departed the country. This is a massive publicity market China has developed, it knows it needs to look open and powerful to be extended greater flexibility and respect from other developed nations in the future, or the citizens comprising those. In needs to seem fair and equitable as a sort of en masse damage control over the Tibet issue and other purported human rights violations.

This is timing folks, this is advertising, this is one the most bombastic marketing campaigns we’ve ever seen in the last century and for the timebeing the world will consume it because we want to believe that we can change those that don’t want to change.